We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Shira A. Ackerman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Shira A., we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My husband, Mathis, and I had been working with a young man in Washington State that needed to attend a Prep School to obtain an additional credit towards his NCAA Eligibility to play college basketball. We did not have much experience with Prep Schools, so we sent him to one in the Dallas, Texas, area, because another young man my husband had worked with previously attend it years prior. After a short period of time, we noticed things were not running as we thought they should, so my husband brought a few other young men from Washington State with him and they moved into the Prep School. His hopes were that we could fix it from the inside. After three weeks, my husband called me and said “we can do this and we can do it better”! My response was “do what exactly?” “Start a Prep School!” was the answer I was given and in Texas! When we got off the phone, I started looking for how to start a NonProfit Organization in Texas as well as get housing for Mathis and the young men he brought down to Texas. The young men were able to remain at the Charter School for high school. They all returned home for the winter break in December of 2011, and in February of 2012, I moved down to Texas to join my husband.
My husband and I saw a need and knew we had the tools and resources to help as many young people as possible. When we first started the Non Profit, I was working for Easter Seals North Texas running their Autism Programs as well as working as a Research Scientist for the University of North Texas Department of Behavior Analysis.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our business is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, and we are going into our eleventh year. Our program started with a Prep Basketball program, CYM Academy, with the objective to help as many young men as we could gain access to opportunities they would otherwise not have had. Over the first 10 years we have helped more than 150 young men gain scholarships to play basketball in college around the country at all levels (Junior College, NAIA, NCAA DI, NCAA DII). We use basketball as a means to gain the attention of our youth, but we teach much more than basketball. We teach our young men how to be young men, how to be productive members of their communities, how to helps others and why it is important, how to take responsibility and accountability for their actions, to value education, how to build their own business, how to build their own brand, and many more! We have relationships with a lot of college coaches and scouts to help give our guys the opportunity to earn college scholarships.
In the last 3 years we have added a professional basketball league, CYM Undiscovered League, to our program. Having so many college graduates that still want to pursue their dreams of playing professionally, we needed to create an avenue for them to achieve their dreams. Our CYM Undiscovered League is for current, former, and aspiring professional players. We help guys get opportunities to earn contracts to play professionally around the world as well as within the United States with the NBA and NBA G-League.
For the older members of our program that still want to complete their college degree or earn advanced degrees, we have a partnership with Grand Canyon University. This allows our players to earn their degrees while taking courses on-line. Grand Canyon University also provides a scholarship for the young men within our program.
In October of this year, we launched my first book – Creating Young MindsTM: Inspiring Our Youth and Athletes Outside of the Classroom. The book became a Best Seller on Amazon in multiple categories for the E-Book and Paperback within the first day of launch (October 4th). The purpose of the book is to give educators, parents, family members, and community members, tools to increase positive interactions with our Youth and Athletes. We want the world to see how our program operates, the practices we use to help our young men grow and develop, as well as how we help them achieve their goals and dreams.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would definitely visit the Perot Musuem, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, walk around downtown Dallas, and bring them to our home game for the CYM Undiscovered League in Lake Dallas on Saturday. We both have kids, so the activities would be geared towards the entire family! We would take them shopping at the Enchanted Shops in Lake Dallas to see some of the most unique and amazing finds by different vendors. For food, we would have to visit our favorite sushi restaurant, Edohana in Irving, but since we are new to the Lake Cities area, we would explore and try new restaurants together! Another must is Sullivan Old Town BBQ in Lewisville! The all you can eat BBQ on Friday and Saturday nights along with the hospitality are amazing!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Mathis Crowder, is the reason behind the birth of our Program. Without his vision, dreams, and determination our Non-Profit Organization would not have started in 2011. Another person that has been instrumental to the continued success of our organization is Charley Brown. Charley supported our vision, goals, and dreams to help as many young people as possible from the onset in 2011. I want to thank all the families and young men past, current, and future for allowing us to join their journeys through life.

Website: https://www.creatingyoungminds.org

Instagram: instagram.com/cymbasketball

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shira-ackerman-phd-241a06/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CYMBasketball

Facebook: facebook.com/CYMBBall

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ackermas2004

Other: www.cymtv.org https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BF31GJYZ

Image Credits
Aviating Frequencies Inc. (AFi)

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